PRESIDENT BUSH: It's my real pleasure to welcome His Majesty back
to the Oval Office. Your Majesty, every time you come, I really enjoy
our conversation. His Majesty leads a great country in the midst of a
part of the world that is changing, changing for the better. And I
want to thank His Majesty for his leadership, his understanding about
the need for reform, his strong alliance, his clear vision that the
world needs to jointly fight terror. And I really appreciate you
coming.

Welcome.

KING ABDULLAH: Thank you. I'd like to thank the President for
welcoming me back to Washington. As always, our discussions have been
very fruitful, to try and make the Middle East a better place. We had
the chance to discuss the issues of the peace process, how we can move
that forward, and, obviously, our commitment to a regional reform. And
as always, we've come away with some very good ideas, and a decent way
of being able to look at the future.

Q The Lebanese Maronite Patriarch you're meeting with
tomorrow supports integrating Hezbollah into the political mainstream
in his country. Are you willing to consider that kind of role for
Hezbollah?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, first, I look forward to listening to the
Patriarch. It's going to be a very interesting discussion. One of the
messages I want to say is that my meeting with the Patriarch is in no
way embracing any religion for Lebanon; it is a way for me to speak to
people that believe the Lebanese society ought to be free.

We view Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, and I would hope
that Hezbollah would prove that they're not by laying down arms and not
threatening peace. One of our concerns The Majesty and I discussed is
that Hezbollah may try to derail the peace process between Israel and
the Palestinians. And it's very important that this peace process go
forward, for the sake of the Palestinians, for the sake of the
Israelis, and for the sake of all the people in the region. But
Hezbollah has been declared a terrorist organization by the United
States because of terrorist activities in the past.

Q Mr. President, the Arab peace initiative in Beirut has
defined the ground for resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict, which would
be also re-articulated in the coming Algeria summit. What would be the
role of the United States in the coming stage to push for with that
initiative? And when it comes to reforms, how would the United States
help the Arab world, and Jordan in particular, in pushing forward?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, I appreciate that question. First, let's
start with Jordan. One of the things we've done is entered into trade
negotiations with Jordan, so that commerce between our countries can
flow better. It's much easier to reform when there's prosperity, when
people are able to see His Majesty's vision about a prosperous future.
And I -- the other way to encourage reform is to herald examples of
reformers, people who are willing to put mechanisms in place that
respond to the voice of the people. And His Majesty has done that.

We look forward to hearing the results of the conference in
Algeria. The Foreign Minister briefed us on His Majesty's plans and
the Jordanian government's plans to have accountability measures in
place, so as to help measure as to whether or not reforms are going
forward.

As for the Palestinian-Israeli issue, the role of the United States
will be to continue to urge both parties to make the sacrifices
necessary -- sacrifice meaning that Israel must withdraw from the
settlements, there must be contiguous territory for a Palestinian state
-- into which a Palestinian state can grow. The Palestinians, in their
part, must continue to work hard to fight any terrorist activities
within the territories, and the Arab world must continue to work
together to help Palestine build the necessary structures for
democracy.

And I believe progress is being made. I said in my State of the
Union address to our country that I believe peace is within hand and
that the United States government will do that which is necessary to
help move the process forward.

One of the things we've done is we've recently sent a general, Your
Majesty, to the region to help the Palestinians have an effective
security force. I believe President Abbas is desirous of developing a
state that will live side by side with Israel in peace. And we
recognize that the Palestinians need help in consolidating security
forces and training security forces to defeat the terrorists who would
like to stop the march of freedom.

Let's see -- Steve.

Q Sir, a new poll says 55 percent of Americans oppose your
proposals on Social Security. Do you worry you're losing ground here?
Is it a question of getting your message across, or does the plan need
to be changed?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, first, in that same survey I was heartened to
see that over two-thirds of the Americans recognize we have a problem.
And, therefore, the administration and members of both parties in the
legislative branch must come together to permanently solve the
problem. My first concern was that members of Congress would think the
public didn't think there was a problem -- but they do. And I am
mindful that when the public says there's a problem, we've got to work
to solve it.

Secondly, I was also heartened to see in that survey that many
people believe younger workers ought to be allowed, at their option, to
set aside some of their own money in a personal savings account. That
principle was embraced by a lot of folks in the survey.

My view about taking on a tough issue is that, that's what the
American people expect a President to do. And I look forward to
working with members of the Congress to develop a plan. I've suggested
ideas. I've suggested that we stop partisan bickering and come
together to work for a solution. And I'm looking forward to finding
that solution. That's what the people expect.

So, no, listen, I'm just getting started on this issue, Steve, and
I'm enjoying every minute of it. I like to take big issues to the
American people. I like to say to the American people, you sent us
here to Washington for a reason, and that is to solve problems. And
we've got a problem, the American people say we've got a problem, and
they're going to expect people to come to the table, and they're not
going to like it when they see people not coming to the table.

Q May I ask the King a question? May I ask the King a
question, please?

THE PRESIDENT: That's up to His Majesty. He's a generous guy --
(laughter.)

Q Your Majesty, since the new Palestinian leadership took
over, what's your personal vision for the region at this time?

KING ABDULLAH: Well, I'm, again, very supportive of President
Abbas. I think he's a man of his word and I think that you'll see him
give 110 percent to deal with the security issues and to push the
process forward.

I truly believe that in this man Prime Minister Sharon has a
partner for peace, and I'm very optimistic that between the two leaders
that the process will go forward and go forward positively.